It is announced THIS VERY MOMENT! Remake is coming!

What I cannot STAND is the floating numbers on hit. I can even handle the life bars. But comic book like numbers popping up and even notices like "Dodge!" just is the least diablo-like atmosphere ever. I have no idea why that seems to be complete ubiquitous in modern arpgs. It works fine in a game like wow, but anything with a serious atmosphere, it's just awful imo.
If it's like D3, there's an option to turn them off. It doesn't really bug me much (I play d3 with this information turned on to help with gear optimizations and such, but that's mostly what keeps me playing this type of game) but it is a completely reasonable criticism and comes down to what the game means to you and what means the game is to you.

The graphics instantly made me think "hmm, looks like Grim Dawn." Which isn't exactly a criticism, cause I've played and enjoyed Grim Dawn, but does sum up that I'm not amazed by the looks though there's almost no way I would have been really given I very much like the charm of these old games as they were (I still think un-remastered Starcraft looks sexy as hell, though the remaster did a very good job imo). I'll play it, definitely, pretty much regardless because it's a D2 remaster but I haven't been excited enough about D2 for a long time to get super hyped.

I'll try to get into the deep dives in the next few days, but mostly I hope there's enough in it to provide some enticement for this community. We'll still have our installs, so even if they Warcraft 3 this remaster we don't lose everything, like they did, but if there can be a reason to play this for the people who are most dedicated to D2, then that will be a huge win.
 
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Did I read that Blizzard isn't adding ladder runewords to the SP experience in D2:R? I cannot find it anywhere, but I'm sure I saw it. What about the /players command? D2 without runewords or the /players command is going to be disappointment to me not matter how good the graphics are!!
 
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@Albatross What Q&A recap did you watch? I couldn't find it...If they again restrict some of the runewords to ladder only, I might refrain from buying D2:R.

EDIT: Found it! (on the Pure Diablo front page (y))

Already there are lots of BNet people complaining on the official forums about the "bad game" D2 and that they should make it more like D3. I think there are just different types of players, some who rather have a game like D2 and some who rather one like D3. D2 for me is much more strategic than D3, in planning as in gameplay. D3 is much more an action RPG than D2 was (although it probably was THE ARPG back in 2000). I like D2:R to be as much D2 as possible (and not D3, D4 already looks like D3.1) and wouldn't mind if they got rid of some of the bugs on the way (FE, LCS, Shadow Cloak to name some). But at the same time I fear that they may start to listen to those stereotypical BNetters and make some changes to D2 like infinite respecs, extra charms stash etc (there are even some demanding class rebalancing because some are "so much better in the beginning of the game for MFing"...I mean WTF? Seriously?)

So I was wondering if we should be more active as the D2 aficionados that we are? Maybe even through PureDiablo (Elly, Rush) to present the views of people, who actually have been playing D2 the last 20 years and can give account about all the things that make this game special?

I know I repeat myself: But something like tournaments just isn't possible in D3 and later ARPGs like it is in D2. Also the big impact the various unique/set/runewords items have on character builds is amazing. In D3 it is more like: This build does more damage with these items (and damage is based entirely on weapon DPS alone...), but in D2 you can make a WW assassin, a Bearsin, a Stormspire Lightning sorc even if you want! And I thinkt that is awesome!

So, does anyone have any ideas on how to best present the view of a community like ours to the devs?

I will probably record some tournment gameplay videos and see if it gets more fourmites into this kind of play, and maybe we'll even catch some non-SPFer who randomly stumbles over one of the videos, who knows. Not that I am much of a gamer/streamer, but it is something I have been wanting to do for quite some time anyways. It will be difficult though, because I can only record when the kids are in bed, which is mostly past 10 p.m. :unsure:
 
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In D3 it is more like: This build does more damage with these items (and damage is based entirely on weapon DPS alone...), but in D2 you can make a WW assassin, a Bearsin, a Stormspire Lightning sorc even if you want! And I thinkt that is awesome!

That comes down to D2 and D3's different philosophies on the end-game.

D2 has a finite level of difficulty. The monsters max out their damage/hp at P8 Hell. This means that every improvement in gear and player skill makes your character feel stronger and more powerful.

This also means that while various builds ARE more damaging/durable then others (Cookie cutter vs. a build like your Stormspire light sorc), it's at magnitude of like...5x. You can definitely still beat the game as a Stormspire sorc, it's just going to take you little longer then a hammerdin or a blizz sorc.

D3 does not have an upper limit on difficulty with the greater rift system. Because there's a cap on how good gear can get, you actually feel weaker the higher you climb in the greater rifts. (Yes, there is a cap on how good gear can get in D2, but its far greater diversity in "good" gear means a much longer ramp up then D3's gear system.)

Unconventional builds in D3...don't exist. That magnitude I talked about between cookie cutters and weird builds in D2? It might as well be 1,000,000x, or even infinite in D3. You simply cannot build anything outside the sets and maybe a few Legacy of Dreams rigs and hope to get anywhere in GR.

This, in my mind, is D3's greatest failing and D2's greatest triumph.
 
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As a D2 fan, I am obviously excited as well.
But I am not quite sure if it's really needed.

A new patch, new content or even a new expansion right now would be MORE than enough I believe.
We have been playing for so many years gathering and improving stuff that I don't want to restart.
I hope they can do something magical so we can use our current progress.
 
I just realized something that's obvious, at least in modern gaming... Will there be.. Achievements?

So. Many. Possibilities.
 
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Did anyone watch the Diablo Q&A?

I was looking through the live reactions thread in the Diablo Reddit and a couple people mentioned that the panel talked about "possible future content". Any addition context on that?

That is honestly what I was most excited about with the announcement of D2: Resurrected. Could we actually get a new patch with new content with all the buzz that D2:R generates?

OK, to answer myself, I just finished watching the whole Blizzcon Diablo Q&A.

There are two relevant questions about new content in D2R/D2:

At 20:08, the question asked is: Diablo II Resurrected: What patch will the remaster be based off of? Skill synergies and elemental immune enemies in later patches severely limited the build diversity and fun factor. Editor's note: no, they didn't

Rob answers (and I'm paraphrasing this part): 1.14d. We're aware that the current patch has some balance issues, but we do not want to release a product that does not match the current d2. That is not our intention.
The key part of the answer is his last sentence. He says (direct quote) "Right now, we're focused on pretty much what's live today".

If we're being optimistic, the fact the qualifies his statement with "right now" could imply that they have at least considered the possibility of adding new content at a later date.

-

At 32:31, the question asked is: Will you be throwing in any new runewords into D2R?

Rob answers (direct quote): "No, not at this time"

Again, the fact that he qualifies his answer with "not at this time", instead of a simple "no" does leave the door open for new runewords in the future.

-

So, Rob did not shut the door on new content, but he also did not confirm there would be any either.
 
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At the end of the day, it's what Blizzard make of D2 with regards to their product line. Is it a one-off cash grab like every other remaster/remake, or branching out the Diablo franchise?

To be honest, without any monetization, I don't really see it go the latter way. It's Activision-Blizzard, not CDPR.
 
The thing I find myself wondering is, if the content is the same as 1.14d, why bother? Don't get me wrong, I will buy it regardless and I already signed up for the pre-alpha. But the reason we are playing D2 isn't that no game has come along with better graphics in the meantime.

We play for the challenges, for the Grails for the Tournaments. I kind of feel that without new content, the novelty of the new graphics will fade fairly quickly. I think it ia good decision to start with 1.14d to hook the current players in, but new content will keep returnees and everyone else there.

Good news for the MP group - TCP/IP games still supported (7.59) :D
 
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Interesting point about breakpoints at 23.56
My memory is a bit hazy here, but IIRC some of the theoretical breakpoints are affected by the animation frames playing. With different animation, BPs that were not possible could work. I'm specifically thinking 2FPA werebears. But I may also be completely wrong...

Edit: Having re-read some of Titanseal's posts on the AB, I think I am completely wrong.
 
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I think the "improved graphics and nothing else" approach, might have limited appeal for most people that frequent this forum. But for the larger masses, I definitely think there has been a barrier to entry for many, when it comes to outdated graphics. Many have perhaps heard about D2, through playing D3, but can't bring themselves to play some pixelated mess (my imagination of their thoughts, not my own opinion).
 
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Maybe not as an intended feature, but perhaps it will be possible to transfer the character files in some way?
I have no idea how these things works, so feel free to correct me.
 
@Grisu I think there isn't anyway to do that. I've tried with a few games, but it seems that majority of players the vocal majority overshadow any other thing and developers just don't understand people play other ways.

@Skjolde The game doesn't always run correctly and I know a few people that got refunds for the normal D2 because they just can't get it to run. I am also unsure about the character issue because since the stash shared, I'm sure that modifies how the game handles the save file entirely, and we don't know how big it is either ( I saw at least 4 pages ).

@saracen85 I don't think it is just a cash grab. I didn't get that feeling from anyone. Blizzard knows it needs to do better, that was evident in the WC3 fiasco and why they sought outside help. The question on everyone's mind is: Where is this really going and if it isn't, why wasn't it said?

It wouldn't surprise me if there was another area/expansion that ties into Immortal, but they can't release that information yet.
 
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Mrllama posted his personal Q&A with the devs on his YouTube channel and has some new information not available so far, e.g. Number of stash tabs is still not clear and tested, classic will NOT habe bigger and shared stash, they are looking at each individual bug to decide if they should keep it or at least display killing clouds of poison (I am looking at you, Vipers!)
EDIT: oh, this is the Q&A @maxicek mentioned, so nothing new there, I guess. But yeah, they did confirm that ladder RWs are not meant for SP at the moment... :(
 
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